Controlling means for vapor apparatus.



'P. c. HEWITT. CONTROLLING MEANS FOR VAPOR APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILEDDEC. 1, 1914.

1,156,228. Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

WITNESSES P. C. HEWITT. CONTROLLING MEANS FOR VAPOR APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1. 1914.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915 INVENTOR WITNESSES -p' 1 Aiish4 ,4 TTORNE UNITEDSTATES Pr-ETENT PETER CGOPER HEWITT, 0F RING'W'OOD MAKER, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGIQ'QB T0 SGQPEEZ HEWITT ELECTRIC NEW JERSEY.

COMPANY, 65 EGB'OKEH, NEW JERSEY, i

CURPORATIGH iii CONTRGLLING 50B Vial-F1135; AIPTBABATUS.

Original application filed January 2 19%, Serial Ito.

gpecificatipn of Letters Fatent.

" Patented 12,

2 11,9 13. Div-idea and application filed leeceznber 7, 1314. Serial No.875,322'.

To all whom it may concern: r v Be it known that 1, PETER Coorn'n HarvITT, a citizen of the United States, and rash dent of Ringwood Manor,county of Pas.

saic, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Controlling Means for Vapor Apparatus, of Whichthefollowing is-a specification.

In a vapor electric device comprising a suitable containing vessel andtWo or rnore rent into an electrode which for the time,

being may be negative; that is to say, to strengthen the normal initialresistance to starting at a negative electrode.

I have found that under certaineondt tions the vapor in theneighborhoodof the negative electrode of a vapor device, and particularly at a smalldistance from the surface thereof, is, before the current actu allypasses, charged inductively in a sense opposite to the. charge of thenegative'elec- I trode itself, and not in the same sense. That is tosay, the vapor at a short distance from the surface of the negativeelectrode ischarged positively as if by induction.

Appearances seem to indicate that the Va.- por in close proximity to.the surface of the negative-electrode so arranges itself that it actsasa dielectric while farther away it is capable of assuming a chargeasif it.

were a conductor. For the purpose'of the present invention this'apparent dielectric action maybe considered the cause of the highinitial reluctance or resistance to the passage of the current. Asalready stated the present invention concerns'itselfwith amplifying thiseffect so as to stillfurther increasethis reluctance or resistancetostarting. For exam le, I have placed near the negative electro' e anexploring disk or ring,

' and when-the said disk or ring was charged negatively by means of thedevice occasionally started of itself, the terminals being connectedwith a continuous current circuit carrying a current of 110 volts. When,however, the ring was charged positively even to a greater potential,the

device did not start. On introducing a spark-gap, when chargedpositively, so that the ring was allowed to chargeand discharge itself,the device started into opera tion. By reasonof these facts the ringmayhe made to-still further increase the'pctential' of the inductiveefiects from the. nega tive electrode. The dificult'y, of starting maybe inoreasedlb'y causing the inductive efiect of the ring to'prenonderate over inductive efi'ect of the current at the nega tiveelectrode, modifying it to a great er tent, and may be used forassisting these re actions for useful purposes. Certain supen imposedcharges appear to lessen the tendency of a negative electrode todisintegrate and thus assist in -p reventingfthe' lowering of thereluctance 'or resistance to starting from this cause. i

it appears from the discovery thus made that the vapor close to negativeelectrode: interpcses hetweenthe'said electrode and an electrode whichis posieiveto it inan ap paratus a dlelectrlc condition which can he.further increased? by inducing a greater charge than that which theelectrode itself.

would induce. I propose to make use of this principle of operation bysurrounding an electrode or electrodes vapor apparatus or other vapordevice Wllthit shield capable of receiving a'charge assist the chargewhich would naturally be present at a negative eiectrode; The deviceforproducing this charge may be any suitable device, but is hereiniliustrated as a transformer of smali current capacity but of higherpotential than that atthe nega;

tive, and is connected to shields thereby as si'sting the charge- Theaction is not essentiall that of current riowin but more nearly that ofcapacity charged-to the required potentia The shie d whe properlyconnected er a he 1311- at ales e me being to waning to assist creasings trade inegs another." pentive will augment or static machine;

in preventing current passing between these electrodes. In thishighpotential circuit a condenser may be introduced in order to actuallylimit the flow of more than a specific amount of current and further theneutra'l points of. the windings of the transformers may be allconnected together so as to insure the same zero point or a positivediiference of potential at the terminals.

I have found in certain experiments under certain degrees of impurity ofthe gases and under certain conditions and particularly where othergases were present than those of mercury vapor, that the effects hereinstated may be reversed or changed. In other words, under the peculiarconditions of-materials and manufacture used, there are instances wherethe actual reversal of the operation described will tend to take placeso that under particular conditions to get at the result desired itbecomes necessary to connect the apparatus here shown in the one sense,in the other sense to obtain results. These conditions may be consideredas abnormal; and are to be avoided by further cleansing and exhaustionfor the removal of the cause, except in instances where such abnormalconditions are desirable. In- 'cidentally the shields may constitutechambers inclosing the various electrodes and thus serve to screen thesaid electrodes from the effects of certain discharge when one or theother of'them is temporarily a negative electrode and another a positiveelectrode.

The shield surrounding a given positive electrode may be made tosubstantially inclose the electrode or not as is found most practical inuse or may be made wholly or in part of conducting material,

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figures 1. and 2 represent mercury vapor converters each provided withtwo positive electrodes with shields, it being desired that currentshall not pass from one of these electrodes to the other and showingalso diagrams of a system of electrical circuits which i may be employedwith the apparatus; Figs. 1 and 2 represent mercury vapor converters inwhich condensers are employed; and Fig. 3 illustrates a modificationadapted to direct current v In the drawings, 1. is acontainer for avapor converter; 2 is the negative electrode thereof, the same being inthe present instance of mercury; and 3 and 4 are positive electrodes ofsome solid material, such as iron. In this instance the positiveelectrodes 3 and 4 are each surrounded by a Shield or screen, 5 .ofsheet metal, gauze, or wire forming a chamber around the electrode. Theshield or screen thus described is of conducting material, but isinsulated from the corresponding positive electrode and its lead-wire.In the preferred construction, the shields are supported upon inwardlyprojecting or reentrant supports, 6, 6, formed of the glass whichconstitutes the material of thecontainer 1. The leadwires, 7 and 8, forthe positive electrodes 3 and 4: pass through these supports withoutmaking contact with the shields In the form illustrated in Fig. 1 theshields are made of thin sheet metal, and are sealed to the supports 6,6. Screens or shields such as herein described serve to increaselthenormal resistance to startingbetween the positive electrodes and also toreduce the danger of short-circuiting between the positiveelectrodes 3and 4. Thus, the apparatus is adapted to work with greater certainty.

Referring now to the electrical connections, I show in Fig. 1 a systemof circuits which may be conveniently utilized .in the operation of aconverter having my improvements applied thereto.

At 10 and 11 are shown the mains of an alternating current circuit,between which mains is connected a coil, 12,.as shown.

The mains are connected to the two positive electrodes 3 and 4, whilethe negative electrode is 'joined by a conductor, 15, through aWork-circuit including translating devices, 16, to an intermediate pointof the coil, 12.

By the means described, a charge of high potential is applied to thescreens or shields, 5, 5, while the working current, or the currentwhich is to be translated into direct current is applied to the positiveelectrodes 3 and 4 and to the negative electrode 2.

The operation will be readily understood,

the function of the shields 5, 5, having been negative electrode in themanner already de-- scribed in this application. I The condensers areillustrated at 17, 17 in Figs. 1 and 2, and their action is tolimitcurrent flow to the shields. When considering the more unusualcondition in which the common action is reversed the connections of thecondenser shields should be as shown in Fig. 1. In the more usualconditions they Should be as shown in Fig. 2. Such an,ar-,

rangement is shown in Fig. 3 wherein'the like numbered parts are theequivalent of these parts in the other figures. It will be vthe currentthrough the rectifier 1.

seen that the D. C. generator 119 normally passes current through theanode 3 .to the cathode 2 and thence through the storage battery 120back to the generator. The shield 5 corresponding to the shield 5 of theother figures is connected to the lead of the short circuiting switch121 serves to make a direct connection between the shield 5 and the leadof the electrode 3 when desired, thus eliminating the efiect of thecondenser, which would otherwise limit current flow to the shield. Theoperation of this figure is otherwise as described for the previousfigures. Fig. 3 illustrates a condition similar to thecondition of Fig.1 described above.

This case is a division of my application This shield when thusconnected- The Serial Number 241,947, filed January 20th, 1905.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with an evacuated electric apparatus, of 'a pluralityof electrodes, an electrified conductor, means for impressing electricvariations on said electrified conductor and a condenser between thesource of said variations and said electrifiedconductor.

The combination with an evacuated electric apparatus, of a plurality ofelectrodes, a metal electrified conductor, means for impressing electricvariations on said electrified conductor and a condenser between thesource of said variations and said electrified conductor.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this2nd day of December A. D. 1914.

PETER COOPER HEWITT.

Witnesses:

R. A. Hnwrrr, \VALTER E. F. BRADLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Intents,

Washington, D. 0."

